Locking mechanism on hatch covers or hinged covers of motor vehicles, especially military vehicles

ABSTRACT

A locking mechanism for hatch or hinged covers of vehicles, especially military vehicles, allows the simultaneous locking or unlocking of all locking elements of the hatch cover or a hinged cover actuating one handle or push button, thus providing a secure and well-sealed closure. The movement of the plurality of locking elements arranged on a hatch cover or hinged cover takes place by means of an actuating device disposed on the outside and/or the inside of the hatch cover or the hinged cover. By actuation of the actuating element, a mechanical transmission element arranged to rotate in a guide on the circumference of the hatch cover or the hinged cover and cooperating with slide rods and corner hinge elements can be displaced in its longitudinal direction. The locking elements are coupled with the mechanical transmission element in such a way that upon displacement of the mechanical transmission element into one direction, they perform the locking movement, and in the other direction, they perform the unlocking movement.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a locking mechanism on hatch covers or hinged covers of motor vehicles, especially of military vehicles, having a vehicle housing, in which at least one hatch opening and/or a loading opening is disposed, which can be closed sealingly by means of a hatch cover or a hinged cover. Multiple locking elements are distributed on the circumference of the hatch cover or the hinged cover, which cooperate with correspondingly arranged counter elements arranged on the vehicle housing in an edge region of the hatch opening or loading opening. The locking elements are moveable out of a locked position in which they engage in the counter elements into an unlocked position in which they release the counter elements, and moveable back from the unlocked position into the locked position.

Such locking mechanisms are known. They have the disadvantage that when a well-sealed closure of the hatch cover or the hinged cover is to be achieved, all of the locking elements distributed on the circumference must be actuated individually, which is laborious and time-consuming.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The invention is based on the object of providing a locking mechanism with the above-described features in such a way that the locking and unlocking of all locking elements of a hatch cover or a hinged cover can be operated commonly by one handle or a push button and, still, a safe and well-sealed closure can be achieved.

The solution of this object is provided according to the present invention in that the movement of the locking elements arranged on a hatch cover or hinged cover takes place by means of an actuating device disposed on the outside and/or the inside of the hatch cover or the hinged cover. By means of the actuating element, a mechanical transmission element arranged to rotate in a guide on the circumference of the hatch cover or the hinged cover and cooperating with slide rods and corner hinge elements can be displaced in its longitudinal direction. The locking elements are coupled with the mechanical transmission element in such a way that upon displacement of the mechanical transmission element in one direction, they perform the locking movement, and in the other direction, they perform the unlocking movement.

A basic concept of the invention is to couple the locking elements arranged on a hatch cover or a hinged cover with an actuating device disposed on the outside and/or the inside of the hatch cover or the hinged cover by means of a circumferential mechanical transmission element on the hatch cover or hinge cover, in such a way that by means of the actuating device, all locking elements of a hatch cover or a hinged cover can be simultaneously locked or unlocked. In this connection, the circumferential mechanical transmission element is composed of slide rods arranged in a guide and cover hinge elements, for example in the form of chain segments. This is associated with the advantage that the mechanical transmission element can be adapted to practically any contour of a hatch cover or a hinged cover, as will be described below with reference to an embodiment of the present invention. The actuating device can be formed as an actuation lever for manual operation or as an electric drive motor for motorized actuation, which also can be controlled centrally.

With a particularly advantageous embodiment of the locking mechanism of the present invention, locking rollers serve as locking elements arranged on the slide rods and hook-shaped locking plates disposed in the edge area of the hatch opening or the loading opening serves as counter elements. These locking plates are formed and arranged, such that the locking rollers engage into the locking plates upon displacement of the mechanical transmission element. This is a constructively simple embodiment which has the advantage that the hook-shaped part of the locking plate can have an inclined surface, on which the locking roller runs during the locking movement, and in this manner, a sealing stroke can be performed, which guides the hatch cover or the hinged cover against the force of a seal disposed on the cover or housing upon pressing together of the seal into the locked position. In this manner, the hatch cover or the hinged cover are securely sealed relative to the vehicle housing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows the vehicle housing of a military vehicle with a closed hinged cover on a loading opening;

FIG. 2 shows the vehicle housing of FIG. 1 with an opened hinged cover;

FIG. 3 shows an enlarged view relative to FIGS. 1 and 2 of the loading opening in the closed state of the hinged cover with the parts of the locking mechanism arranged on the hinged cover;

FIG. 4 shows a section along line IV-IV in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 5 shows an enlarged view relative to FIG. 3 of a section along line V-V in FIG. 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF SPECIFIC EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show the vehicle housing 1 of a military vehicle (not shown completely) with a loading chamber 1.1 arranged in the rear region, whose loading opening 1.2 can be closed by means of a hinged cover 2. The hinged cover 2 is pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis 2.1.

In the closed state of the hinged cover 2 shown in FIG. 1, the hinged cover 2 can be locked with the vehicle housing 1. The locking mechanism to be described next in detail can be actuated by means of an actuating lever 5 pivotably disposed on the outside of the hinged cover 2 for locking and unlocking. The locking mechanism has a mechanical transmission element arranged on the circumference of the hinged cover 2 and rotatingly disposed in a guide 8, which is composed of slide rods 6.1 through 6.6 and cover hinge elements 7.1 through 7.6 disposed in the corner regions of the hinged cover 2. This mechanical transmission element can be displaced in its longitudinal direction in the guide 8. As can be seen in FIG. 3, the corner hinge elements 7.1 through 7.6, respectively, are composed of chain segments guided in sliding guides 8.1 through 8.6. By structuring the mechanical transmission element in this manner, it is ensured that it can be adapted to any multi-corner shape of a hinged cover or a hatch cover. On the slide rods 6.1 through 6.6, locking elements 3.1 through 3.8 are arranged, which cooperate with counter elements 4.1 through 4.8 that are disposed on the vehicle housing 1 in the edge area of the hatch opening 1.2. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the locking elements 3.1 through 3.8 as well as the counter elements 4.1 through 4.8 are distributed with different distances on the circumference of the hatch cover 2 or the loading opening 1.2.

The locking elements 3.1 through 3.8 are formed as locking rollers, which are rotatably attached directly to the slide rods 6.1 through 6.6. The counter elements 4.1 through 4.8 are formed as hook-shaped locking plates and arranged so that the hook opening respectively runs parallel to the movement direction of the respective slide rod, such that with displacement of the slide rod, the locking roller associated with it is guided into the hook opening of the locking plate or guided out of it. This is shown by way of example for the locking roller 3.1 and the locking plate 4.1 of FIGS. 4 and 5. In FIG. 4, the locked position is shown with broken lines, in which the locking roller 3.1 engages in the hook-shaped opening of the locking plate 4.1. In the unlocked sate, the locking roller is designated with reference numeral 3.1′ and shown with a dashed line. It lies in front of the hook opening of the locking plate 4.1. The locking stroke is designated with V. The locking plate 4.1 is attached adjustably to the vehicle housing 1 via screw connections 4.12.

As can be seen from FIG. 4, the locking plate 4.1 has an inclined surface 4.11 on the inside of the hook-shaped part, on which the associated locking roller 3.1 runs during the locking movement. In this manner, upon locking, the hinged cover 2 is pulled sealingly into the locked position against the effect of force of a seal shown in FIG. 5. The sealing stroke is designated in FIG. 4 by d.

The coupling of the mechanical transmission element to the pivotable actuating lever 5 can be seen in FIG. 3. For this purpose, a gear wheel 5.1 is arranged on the actuating lever 5 which rotates about the pivot axis 5.2 upon actuation and engages in a gear rod 9 attached to the slide rod 6.6. Upon pivoting out of the actuating lever 5 into the unlocked position shown in dashed lines in FIG. 3, the slide rod 6.6 moves and with it, the entire mechanical transmission element moves in its longitudinal direction by a predetermined distance and upon pivoting back of the actuating element 5 into the locked position, moves again into the starting position. In this manner, a manual locking and unlocking of the locking elements 3.1 through 3.8 disposed on the hinged cover is possible.

Of course, instead of the manual actuating device, also an electric drive motor can be provided, which is designated in FIG. 3 with reference numeral 5′. The driven gear of such a drive motor engages then into the gear rod 9 on the slide rod 6.6 and effects the displacement of the mechanical transmission element. Such a drive motor also can be controlled centrally from the vehicle.

A tightener 10 in the slide rod 6.1 serves for compensating tolerances or play within the guide 8.

The illustrated and described locking mechanism serves in the exemplary embodiment for locking a hinged cover that is pivotable about a horizontal axis. Of course, this locking mechanism also can be used with a hatch cover that is pivotable about a horizontal axis. Likewise, the locking mechanism can be used on hinged covers or hatch covers which are pivotable about a vertical pivot axis or are displaceable in the horizontal direction and then are lowered onto the loading opening or hatch opening.

The specification incorporates by reference the disclosure of German priority document DE 10 2004 036 612.8 filed Jul. 28, 2004.

The present invention is, of course, in no way restricted to the specific disclosure of the specification and drawings, but also encompasses any modifications within the scope of the appended claims. 

1. A locking mechanism for hatch covers or hinged covers of motor vehicles, especially military vehicles, said motor vehicle having a vehicle housing with at least one opening that is sealingly closeable by means of the hatch cover or hinged cover, comprising: a plurality of locking elements, said locking elements distributed on a circumference of the hatch cover or hinged cover; counter elements correspondingly arranged on the vehicle housing in an edge region of the at least one opening for cooperating with the locking elements, whereby the locking elements are moveable from a locked position in which they engage in the counter elements into an unlocked position in which they release the counter elements, and wherein the locking elements are moveable back from the unlocked position into the locked position; an actuating device disposed on the outside and/or the inside of the hatch cover or the hinged cover, wherein movement of the locking elements takes place by means of the actuating device; and a mechanical transmission element comprising slide rods and corner hinge elements, wherein said mechanical transmission element is disposed on the circumference of the hatch cover or the hinged cover to be rotatable in a guide, wherein said mechanical transmission element is displaceable in its longitudinal direction by means of the actuating device, and wherein the locking elements are coupled with the mechanical transmission elements in such a way that during displacement of the mechanical transmission element in a first direction, the locking elements perform a locking movement and during displacement of the mechanical transmission element in a second direction, the locking elements perform the unlocking movement.
 2. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the corner hinge elements comprise chain elements guided in sliding guides.
 3. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein locking rollers arranged on the slide rods serve as the locking elements, wherein hook-shaped locking plates serve as the counter elements arranged on the motor vehicle housing in an edge region of the at least one opening, wherein each locking plate has a hook opening running parallel to a movement direction of a respective slide rod, and wherein with the locking movement one of the locking rollers engages in one of the locking plates.
 4. The locking mechanism of claim 3, wherein the locking plates are adjustably arranged on the motor vehicle housing.
 5. The locking mechanism of claim 3, wherein each locking plate has a hook-shaped part and an inclined surface on an inner side of the hook-shaped part, and wherein an associated locking roller runs on the inclined surface in such a manner that the hatch cover or the hinged cover is pulled against a force effect of a seal into the locked position.
 6. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein a pivotable actuating lever serves as the actuating device, wherein a gear wheel is arranged on the actuating lever, wherein the gear wheel rotates upon actuation about a pivot axis, and wherein the gear wheel engages in a gear rod disposed on one of the slide rods.
 7. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein an electric drive motor serves as the actuating element, and wherein the electric drive motor has a driven gear that engages in a gear rod arranged on one of the slide rods.
 8. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein a tightener is disposed in the mechanical transmission element for tolerance and/or play compensation.
 9. The locking mechanism of claim 1, wherein the hatch cover or the hinge cover is pivotable about a horizontal pivot axis. 